Fogo de Chao offers a one-of-a-kind Brazilian experience

Are you feeling like going into a food coma? Having a food baby? Gaining two pounds in one meal? If you answered yes to any (or all) of the above, then Fogo de Chao is where you want to go next.

Fogo is located in 800 Figueroa Street, just a couple of minutes away from campus. Make sure to call in earlier and make a reservation, because it is bound to be packed. To be able to afford Fogo de Chao, you will have to save up a week worth of meals, because that college budget of yours will take a hit. The meal costs $70 per person…plus tip. But don’t worry about that, because you will definitely eat your $70 worth of food.

The place itself is cavern looking, dimly lit, with servers running around with meat on skewers and dressed in traditional Brazilian clothing. They will sit you at your table and explain the basics of how the restaurant works:

You get a paper disk with a red sign on one side and a green sign on the other. Whenever you want meat, you have to place the green side up and whenever you’re done you place the red side up. The salad bar is buffet-style and open throughout your meal for you to enjoy it as much as you can.

The meat is simply spectacular. Here are 17 different kinds and, by the end of the meal, you’ve forgotten which one’s which. They have pork chops, filet mignon, chicken wrapped in bacon, rib eye — just about everything that you can imagine! It is heaven for carnivores and hell for vegetarians.

Servers will keep roaming around the restaurant, so you can turn your disk green at anytime and make them come your way. If you want anything in particular, the menu also has everything listed with pictures, so you can always ask your server. The menu, by the way, is not there for you to order because everything that’s in it is included. Plus, the portions that they give you are small enough that it allows you to try everything they have.

As side dishes, you get unlimited amounts of fried bananas, baked potatoes and cheese bread. Let’s talk about that bread. Pão de Queijo is a type of authentic Brazilian bread wrapped around a bundle of cheese. They bring it to you straight from the stove, so it’s not only deliciously warm but also the perfect blend between doughy and cheesy. And if by the time you’re done with the meat, you’ll still be wondering if $70 was worth it, all you need to have more bread. I definitely had $70 worth of cheesy bread.

For me, Fogo de Chao was not so much about the taste of the food (though it is wonderful), but the experience. Fogo is not an Americanized Brazilian restaurant, but rather a chain that was brought to the USA all the way from Brazil, so you definitely get a taste of how a meat restaurant works over there. From the overwhelming amount of food, to the good service and the overdose on cheese bread, Fogo is definitely an experience you must have at least once in your life.